Beer: Reviews & Ratings

A = Amber color with minimal head that instantly disappears. Moderate carbonation. Very disappointing appearance for a quad.

S = Uggh smells like thick, sweet cough syrup. Now I'm scared.

T = Yep. Cherry cough Syrup with a boozy burn of a finish.

Mouthfeel - if there is any saving grace, at least it has a warm buttery mouthfeel.

Overall - I really am trying to find some positive comments but I just can't find anything with this beer. A very poor and failed attempt at a complex to craft Belgian style beer, but Weyerbacher got it all wrong. Only other quads I had was a Rochefort 10 and St. Bernardus Apt 12, but I loved in all aspects. I had about 5-6 sips of this quad and had to unfortunately drainpour as it was gagging me worse with each attempt to sip. An undrinkable mess of a beer. Sorry for the harsh review. (827 characters)

Maybe I just don't get Brandywine's but this is almost undrinkable. I very much enjoy beers like Sublimely Self Righteous Ale, 13th Hour and even lighter varieties like Noble Pils.

The mouthfeel here is more like a wine, no fizz and borders on a thin cough syrup. Zero head but it's deep red color isn't all bad. The flavor is also reminiscent of cough syrup. It doesn't really like a beer much at all.

Outside of the cough syrup like fruit flavor, there is a strong taste of alcohol. I just don't get why that would be appealing to anybody, but cheers if you like it. I wouldn't drink it if I were you though. (613 characters)

Well time to review this brew with Elvis Costello " Shipbuilding " on the Hi-Fi . This song I have not heard in a while . It is one of my favs from Mr. MacManus . As for this beer , lets say I will not be going to my " beer monger " to pull this out of the archives . When poured in my Rapscallion snifter there is no head on the muddy , caramel , brown fluid . The smell of sweetness , raisins and currants . The taste of this is not very good . Sweet and too boozy . There is no burn but there is just too much going on when it is in my mouth . When I taste the Rochefort 10 , I was in awe of the flavor and drinkability . It is fantastic . As for Quad , it is like too much sugar in my mouth . like Robitussin . Awful . Maybe if I tried this again with another BA journeyman - who knows his stuff and for what I should look for - this might be better . Even with it warming up , it was a bomb . Nearly my 2nd drain pour out to pleasant Dorchester Bay for the tuna that roam there . (984 characters)

I found this beer very raw and upfront. Lots of sweetness and quite yeasty (some cheesyness), some very raw peppery alcohol, quite sugary. Not very elegant or rounded or anything. A bit too sweet and raw for my tastes, with too much alcohol in the finish. Not a fan. (266 characters)

Taste: More of the bananas, apples and brown sugar found in the nose. Very sweet and very alcoholic. If there are any hops in here, I can't taste them. Unbalanced.

Mouthfeel: Quite syrupy. Leaves the tongue feeling sticky for a long while.

Drinkability: All of the above qualities plus the ABV taken into consideration, I don't think I'll be having a second.

Comments: Though I want to like them, I just don't think I'll ever enjoy Weyerbacher's Belgian styles. Saying nothing about the matter of balance, something about the yeast strain simply doesn't agree with me. Like Merry Monks, this is what I imagine prison hooch tastes like; rotten bananas and alcohol gone wild. (989 characters)

A: A clear, raisin-brown colored liquid. No head to speak of, almost no carbonation to be seen.

S: Faint malty sweetness.

T: Some candy and brown sugar taste, however there is a strong resemblance to harsh rum in this one. It finishes somewhat syrupy with a sharp alcohol bite to it. I don't like it at all.

M: Almost no carbonation to it at all. A somewhat filmy feel to it which is expected from a beer of this gravity. Overall not a bad mouthfeel, but there is a strong alcohol burn in the back of my throat which I dislike.

D: This beer just doesn't taste good. Had three our four sips but I'm going to toss the rest. (667 characters)

man. i am drinking this right now. it is not amazing. but that is okay. i am sure it is for some. lets see.it reminds me more of wheatwine than quad.its got a punchy sour alchoholy smell. kinda disturbing. not welcoming. its thick and you can see it when you look through the glass. parallel lines, wood grain-like lines forming... not sure what that means, i know its thick, but im sure its a signal for something im not totally familiar with. that its sticky and viscous? yes, it is. taste is a little banana and double bubble gum. its thick. the smell is there to remind again, too thick. carbonation is not overpowering, but its not working one way or another. its not adding to, its not detracting from, its just there. maybe its helping to pull the taste away from my tongue. i dunno, there is just too much alcohol in the smell and taste, and not enough flavor to offset that. one of the few that provokes a review... (926 characters)

Poured this from a 12oz bottle into a St. Bernardus chalice. Poured a translucent (but on the see-through side of translucent) orange-hued brown. No real head to speak of. The lack of head made the beer uninviting at the outset.

First sniff hints of an old ale, maybe a wee heavy. I think I can smell the ethanol too.

On tasting I think this is very sweet and malty. Definitely the alcohol presence is felt from the very first sip. The mouthfeel is syrupy and heavy. The flavor really isn't objectionable to me, but it isn't what I understand a quad to be taste-wise. The alcohol is way too overpowering. The whole package reminds me of wee heavy-flavored cough syrup. And that's not good.

Weyerbacher surprised me again. This tasted like a medicinal old ale. On the yucky side,,, (789 characters)

Amber color with a one finger tan head which disappears almost immediately after an aggressive pour. Smells of toffee, brown sugar, dark fruit, and rum. Something seems like it is off.

The taste is similar to the aroma, and the flavors of toffee, brown sugar, dark fruit, are somewhat weak. The rum flavor is not well hidden at all, and this is somewhat disappointing.

The carbonation is practically non existent, and may as well be called what it is, which is flat. I love a good Quadrupel, but this beer is simply not very good. It may be a bad bottle? I may give this another chance in the future. (603 characters)

I wish this hadn't been one of the first Weyerbachers I've reviewed, because I love this brewery, but this is not one of their better efforts. Deep burgundy pour with a weak head. Intense brown sugar aromas, followed by lots of harsh, sweet/tart brown sugar notes in the flavor. I like it when alcohol makes its presense known, but this is not the gentle wafting sensation i want from alcohol, it's an assault. (And I'm a fan of beers with even higher ABV's.) There's some crabapple, berry, and a little caramel in the background, but if these were just brought forward to mitigate the harshness, this would be a better beer. I'm bringing three other Weyerbachers (all previously tried, and loved) back to the Midwest with me, and I'm sure I'll give them better reviews. (770 characters)

Notes - It's too bad, because I really like quads, and this isn't one. When I think of Westy 12, St. Bernardus 12, Rochefort 10, they have certain characteristics and similarities that are 180° from where this "Quad" is. And unfortunately I don't really like Tripels. This beer is more like a "double Tripel" - larger in alcohol and OG/FG, but in the same vein as a tripel - light in color, intense belgian yeast flavor, not malt complexity dominated. (800 characters)

Appearance: The first pour into the tulip is perfectly clear and orange-golden color. It color is too light for a quad. It looks like an IPA. The head is very foamy at first, but fades in a minute or so and leaves little lacing. Subsequent pours have suspended yeast particles.

Smell: Smells very sweet and boozy. Sweet fruits like peach and apricot and some darker raisiny hints too. A nice dose of yeasty breadiness too. With a deep whiff, the alcohol burns the nose a little.

Taste: The flavors are those of the nose, but they're spoiled by intense ethanol and solventy fusel alcohol. Its so hot that its hard to drink. I'm tempted to say it tastes like liquor, but its closer to gasoline or paint thinner. What a shame.

Mouthfeel: Too thin in body, but its got some syrupy feel to it. Hard to tell with the solvents melting my brain.

Drinkability: Not good, I might pour this. The weird thing is I've had this before and thought it was OK-- at least drinkable. This one is not. (1,000 characters)

Pours a rusty brown color with a thin, quickly dissolving head. The smell is strong malt and alcohol. The first taste is wicked malty and alcoholic. Very much like many barleywines I've tried, but minimally hoppy. The tarty, fruity funkiness that I've gotten used to in most Belgians is noticable, but drowned in malt and alcohol. Mouthfeel is thick and somewhat fizzy.

Not the delight I was expecting and this beer seems out of balance to my tastes. I'm a fan of many barleywines and Belgians, but I'm not sure where this one is going. (539 characters)

Beautiful brown leather to amber color. Pristinely clear. Frothy, big bubble head like an American session ale. No lace, no retention.

Quad showcases the medium fruit range with apricots being the most obvious. Hints of some sort of spice - cinnamon? nutmeg? clove? - I get them mixed up. Alcohol seethes into the malt like newly oiled leather or high gloss wood varnish.

Tastes very sweet and plenty malty. Odd, dry, sugary huskiness in back. Almost like an English barleywine/ Belgian quad hybrid.

Monotone and without anything that stands out or leaves an impression.

Bottle dated 11/18/14. Pours brown and murky with a small head that fizzles away. Aroma has that typical Belgian yeast spiciness with some burnt sugar. Flavor initially follows suit, but then plunges into a phenolic nastiness. Took two swigs, once while cold and once after the beer had warmed up a considerably. Sadly I had to drain pour this beer. I hate band-aidey phenolics so couldn't even choke this down. (411 characters)

I really wanted to like this beer but I just couldn't make it work. Very little head, nice amber color, but not the kind of depth that you see in a Rochefort or Pennepot Fisherman's Ale. Very little head. Not too much aroma other than alcohol, perhaps a little caramel and dark fruit. Alchohol is way too prominent in the taste. A little malt and caramel kicks in, but then it goes back to the alcohol. Harsh flavor. It was a chore to finish this and I won't get it again. (472 characters)

Weyerbacher Quad... What's more fitting then to pour this into a St. Bernardus chalice? I can't think of anything... 12 ounce brown bottle with no freshness date to be seen.

Pours a cloudy dull peach into my cup with a light tan that dissipates very quickly leaving a faint foam halo around the edge.

Smells of spice and lightly sweetened malts. Perhaps some banana and citrus in the mix, as well. Spices include hints of cinnamon, and a whiff of all-spice.

Medium bodied with high champagne yeast bubbles on the tongue. Taste reflects the nose with banana up at the front, followed by cinnamon and nutmeg spice and toward the middle, I get semi-sweet malts mixed and finishes with a minor alcohol burn. Nice, but the banana is too much for me. Medium to full flavored and unapproachably too sweet for me at times. Crisp and dry finish.

This beer pours a murky brown color with very little head that disappears quickly and doesn't leave any lacing. The aroma has some slight fruitiness (raisins), but also has a very strong alcohol smell. The flavor is sweet with a lot of raisin-flavors, but the alcohol is very upfront. The carbonation is minimal and this doesn't help the thin mouthfeel. I had a hard time finishing this one. Not enjoyable. (406 characters)

I poured this one into an oversized snifter, and it appeared like a good Quad should. Decent head retention, and a dark, almost opaque brown.

The smell was average for this style, but the taste lost me. Lots of solvent alcohol... it's a boozy mess. The aftertaste of alcohol overwhelms the qualities of this brew. Some raisen and fruit tastes struggle to be seen. The mouthfeel was average, but I was swallowing quick. I tried to let the beer warm a little to room temp, but that didn't bring out any additional qualities. It may have subdued the alcohol a little, but it wasn't enough.

Drinkability would be low at this ABV, but even lower considering other examples of this style.

All in all, not my favorite. I'm a fan of many Weyerbacher brews, so this one was a dissapointment. For Quads I'll stick with St. Bernardus Abt. 12 or Rochefort 10 as the benchmarks of how one should taste. (898 characters)

This massive rendition is initially copper, clear with no trace of yeast and not much head, barely a ring. Aroma is extremely vinous full of brown sugar, candi sugar, brown rhum, sweet and alcoholic without having the complexities I expect in a beer of this magnitude. Can you say M-A-L-T-Y? Once again in mouth, the alcohol taste is quite strong with sweet raisins and white grapes. It really makes me think of a red wine without the dryness. Body is big and thick, but a little flat, I'd prefer a bit more carbonation personally. Good effort and I certainly wouldn't mind seeing more american brewers trying their hand at ABTs (way to go Allagash). But for sure, if I ever drink a weyerbacher quad again, I'll make sure it's a 3+ year old sample. Cheers to my good friend Hopsrus. (782 characters)